Washington County

Utah – Washington County

RURAL LOCATIONS

Hamblin Cemetery (SUP #95)Sponsor –Cotton Mission Chapter, 2000Location –From St. George, take Highway 18 toward Enterprise; turn onto the road to Pinto. Watch for signs for the road to Hamblin. The marker is just off the road leading to Pinto.GPS – 37° 32.117N 113° 36.464 W

This marker honors the early settlers of the pioneer settlement of Hamblin. Names of these settlers are listed on the plaque.

Hebron CemeterySponsor –Cotton Mission Chapter, 1989Location– From Enterprise, Utah go west 5.7 miles toward the Nevada border, then turn right (north) at Shoal Creek Road and follow the signs to the cemetery.

Honoring the early settlers of the settlement of Hebron.

Monument to Harrisburg Pioneers (SUP #57)Sponsor –Cotton Mission Chapter, 1993Location –South of the town of Leeds, Utah, at the site of early Harrisburg.

A tribute to the early settlers of the Harrisburg area south of Leeds, Utah. Names of these settlers are on the monument.

This plaque is now in the LDS Museum of Church History and Arts. It was moved when the monument on which it was mounted, was replaced by a new one. The plaque reads: MOUNTAIN MEADOWS, a favorite recruiting [resting] place on the old Spanish Trail. In this vicinity, September 7 - 11, 1857, occurred one of the most lamentable tragedies in the annals of the west. A company of about 140 Arkansas and Missouri emigrants led by Captain Charles Fancher, enroute to California, was attacked by white men and Indians. All but 17, being small children, were killed. John D. Lee, who confessed participation as a leader, was legally executed here March 23, 1877. Most of the emigrants were buried in their own defense pits.

With the settlement of Toquerville in 1858, the settlers soon realized that the farmland available for irrigation could not support them. Their survival would depend upon grazing and ranching in the surrounding country. The Hurricane Bench area, just seven miles to the south, seemed well suited to their needs. A rock corral and a fort were built on this high knoll. A guard at night and herders in the daytime had visual access to the surrounding landscape and were within sight of Toquerville. Wood and brush stored nearby were to be ignited in the event of trouble, whereupon armed horsemen from Toquerville, upon seeing the smoke and flames, could be there within half an hour. Today the fort and a small picnic area sits atop the rock wall.

At this location there are four markers mounted on large rocks; also other artifacts and a bowery with seating. These monuments mark the spot where water first flowed into Hurricane Valley from the Rio Virgin River. The canal was literally etched into the mountainside stretching hundreds of feet above the canyon floor, passing through ten tunnels of solid rock and over five trestled flumes. With hand tools and dynamite, the 12-mile channel took twelve long years to build. The four plaques are titled as follows: Birth of Hurricane, Builders of Historic Hurricane Canal, Historic Hurricane Canal and Historic Hurricane Canal Trail.

Hurricane Valley Heritage ParkLocation: 35 West State Street

This park is truly a “showplace” with it’s beautiful pond and waterfalls, artifact depicting pioneer life, and it’s impressive 8-foot monument topped with a sculpted pioneer family in “prayerful thankfulness.” Many plaques honor the pioneers of the area and the history of Hurricane, Utah.

An impressive 8-foot monument topped with a sculpted pioneer family in "prayerful thankfulness." Notable features of the early history of Hurricane are noted on plaques on each side of the monument, as follows:

Early Public Buildings (SUP 23B)

This plaque pays tribute to the first historic buildings that housed the school, seminary, church and relief society of Hurricane.

Hurricane Canal (SUP #23D)

On August 6, 1904, pioneer families from Virgin City, Grafton, Toquerville, LaVerkin, Rockville and Springdale met to witness the first water from the Virgin River gurgle out of the Hurricane canal. On that same date, the city was named “Hurricane” from the historic Hurricane Cliffs.

Hurricane City (SUP #23C)

In 1906, eleven families established their homes in the valley. Hurricane was the last pioneer settlement of the area made possible by the 12-mile historic canal that gave the life blood of water to the valley.

Noble Pioneers of Hurricane (SUP #23A)

This plaque lists the first settlers of Hurricane.

Parley P. Pratt – Southern Exploring Company 1849-50 (#134)Sponsor–Hurricane Valley Chapter, 2007Location–At the extreme north end of Main Street, Hurricane, overlooking the confluence of Ash and LaVerkin Creeks with the Virgin River.

This is a companion monument to a similar structure on the opposite side of the gorge in LaVerkin.

The confluence of the Ash and LaVerkin Creeks with the Virgin River is important in the history of this region. In November 1849, Brigham Young commissioned Parley P. Pratt to assemble an exploring party of 50 men with necessary wagons and provisions to explore the southern region of Utah. They were to explore south to the rim of the Great Basin, over the rim to the Virgin River country, go no farther than Las Vegas Springs and return by spring. They were sent to find locations with the right combinations of water, soil, timber, grazing, and climate for possible settlements. This monument describes their 716-mile arduous journey, and contains a the list of men who participated. Many of these men returned to settle the Iron and Cotton Missions. Parley was less than enthusiastic about the Virgin River country, calling it “a wide expanse of chaotic matter –– a country in ruins.”

LA VERKIN, UTAH

Morris Wilson worked for years on the Hurricane Canal and on June 24, 1904, was called to be the first bishop of the newly formed ward in LaVerkin. Serving for 24 years, Morris’ leadership profoundly influenced the new town spiritually, economically, and socially.

Parley P. Pratt – Southern Exploring Company, 1849 (# 135)Sponsor–Hurricane Valley Chapter, 2007Location–At the far west end of Center Street, LaVerkin, overlooking the confluence of Ash and LaVerkin Creeks with the Virgin River. It is a companion monument to a similar structure on the opposite side of the gorge in Hurricane.

The confluence of the Ash and LaVerkin Creeks and the Virgin River is important in the history of this region. In November 1849, Brigham Young commissioned Parley P. Pratt to assemble an exploring party of 50 men with necessary wagons and provisions to explore the southern region of Utah. They were to explore south to the rim of the Great Basin, over the rim to the Virgin River country, go no farther than Las Vegas Springs and return by spring. They were sent to find locations with the right combinations of water, soil, timber, grazing, and climate for possible settlements. The monument describes their 716-mile arduous journey, and contains the list of men who participated. Many of these men returned to settle the Iron and Cotton Missions. Parley was less than enthusiastic about the Virgin River country, calling it “a wide expanse of chaotic matter – a country in ruins.”

NEW HARMONY, UTAH

Fort Harmony was established May 9, 1854, by John D. Lee, Richard Woolsey, William R. Davis and others who had founded Harmony in 1852. The wall was 300 feet square. Houses on the east side were one story and wall 10 feet high; on the west side two stories and wall 16 feet high. Kanarra and Harmony Creeks supplied water for irrigation. The Fort was finally abandoned in February 1852, following heavy storms that caused the walls to crumble and fall. Harmony was the county seat of Washington County until 1959, and was the headquarters of the Mormon Mission to Lamanites in 1853-1854

This memorial consists of ten individual plaques installed in the plaza surrounding Zion 's Bank. Each plaque is mounted in native sandstone and depicts various homes and sites in the downtown area of historical significance. These are described below. The plaza also includes several additional sculptures and beautiful landscaping.

And the Desert Shall Blossom (SUP #72.01)

When the original company of families entered the St. George Valley in 1861, they had little more than two small springs to rely on for drinking water. William Carter holds the distinction of plowing the first ditch in the valley. The water he channeled emerged from the spring which flows from the east edge of the red sandstone ledge north of the city. A ditch and wooden flume system was built throughout the town, conducting water from East and West Springs to the town.

Brigham Young Home (SUP #72.04)

Brigham Young visited the southern settlements once each year to preach and uplift the saints. With the intent of having a winter home, in 1871 he bought a house, and added a spacious two-story front section in 1873. Brigham Young lived three to five months of the year in St. George until his death in 1877.

Dixie Academy (SUP #72.07)

Completed in 1911, Dixie Academy became the forerunner of both Dixie High School and Dixie College.

Erastus Snow's Big House (SUP #72.06)

In 1867, Erastus Snow, LDS apostle, and presiding Mormon leader during the colonization of St. George, began construction of a four-story adobe home known as the “Big House.” This uncommonly large dwelling served as the executive mansion of the Southern Utah Mission. Beginning in 1888, Snow's son Mahonri managed the house as a first class hotel for 25 years.

Gardener's Club Hall (SUP #72.02)

Built in 1867, just five years after St. George was settled, this hall is thought to be the oldest public building still standing in the city, pre-dating the courthouse, the tabernacle and the temple by several years. Located across the street north and a half block west of the Plaza, the one room structure was the meeting place for the Gardener's Club, formed by horticulturalist Joseph F. Johnson. Johnson, with other experts Walter Dodge and Luther Hemenway, successfully promoted the growing of fruit trees, shrubs and flowers in this desert area. Johnson created model gardens on his own property where this hall and the home of Brigham Young later stood.

Pioneer Courthouse (SUP #72.05)

By 1866, work had begun on the Washington County Courthouse. Three basement rooms were used as a jail and the first floor was county government offices. The second floor had a large assembly room used as a courtroom, and for government functions, civic group meetings, political gatherings, socials, dances, and school classrooms.

St. George Social Hall “Opera House” (SUP #72.03)

The historical Social Hall, or Opera House, was built in 1875 and served as the center of social and cultural life in Dixie for 50 years. The building, with seating for 400, featured a mechanized floor which could be lowered several inches at the east end, allowing everyone an unobstructed view of the stage. For dances, the floor was returned to its level position.

St. George Tabernacle (SUP #72.09)

Less than a year after St. George was settled, residents were directed by Brigham Young to “build a building as soon as possible which would be commodious, substantial, and well furnished, with a seating capacity of 2,000.” The result was the handsome and graceful red sandstone St. George Tabernacle, eventually completed in May 1876.

St. George Temple (SUP #72.08)

Work had begun on the Salt Lake temple in 1853, but was often delayed. Desirous of seeing a temple built before his death, Brigham Young chose St. George as the site to achieve this goal. Begun in November 1871, the completed temple was dedicated in April 1877, the first LDS temple to be dedicated in the West. Apostle Wilford Woodruff was the first president.

Woodward School (SUP #72.01)

It was not until the end of the 1800s that work on a large, substantial school began. Woodward School was completed in 1901, named after George Woodward, one of the trustees who had devoted his time and means to making better education a reality in St. George.

This monument commemorates the Navigation Arrows that were placed at strategic locations around the United States to allow early air traffic to “find their way.” Western Air Express made the first regularly scheduled overland passenger flight in the USA on May 23, 1926, from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Los Angeles, California. A 50-foot concrete arrow on South Gate Hill was one of four placed in the St. George area. Arrows were placed every 10 miles for airplanes to be able to fly in that direction until they came to the next arrow, assisting navigation by mail and passenger planes. Steel Posts held coal oil lamps to illuminate arrows after dark.

Born in 1840, Shem was a well-known chieftain of the Shivwits Band. Highly respected by the new settlers and his own people, Shem served as a peacemaker for the two cultures. He converted to the LDS Church and was a faithful member. He died in 1930 at the age of ninety years. His grave had gone unmarked for many years.